The Verdict
by JMHHFAN69
Summary: Eddie and Loren's relationship is in jeopardy. Eddie is being pressured to collaborate on a song with Lia and Jeremy which is causing more problems with him and Loren. The trial against Chloe is taking an emotional toll on Eddie. Will Eddie be able to pull it all together, or will it all fall apart? This is the next chapter to "Decisions"


**The Verdict**

**It's been two months since **_**Decisions.**_** Loren graduated from high school with honors. She finished her cd and is about to go on a press junket to promote her album. Her cd release party was at MK.**

**Eddie is back in the studio recording songs for his cd. Jake and the record label execs are pushing Eddie to collaborate with Jeremy and Lia on a song for his cd. Eddie doesn't want to do a song with Lia. There is something about Lia that doesn't sit right with him. With the pressures of completing his cd and Chloe's impending trial, Eddie is growing more and more distant from Loren. Will their relationship survive this obstacle?**

**Max and Eddie bought the house in Hollywood Hills with the guest house. Eddie and Loren moved into the main house. Max and Nora moved into the guest house. **

**Chloe's trial is set to begin on Monday and Eddie and Max are on edge. **

"Okay Loren, I'm sending you the press junket schedule look it over and let me know if we need to change anything." Kelly says to Loren.

Loren nods her head and looks at the schedule on her iPad. "As long as the schedule does not conflict with the trial we're good," Loren replies.

"I made sure all your appearances and interviews are in the evenings, which means you will be clocking a lot of frequent flyer miles. There is only one overnight appearance, but you will be back in time to go to the courthouse with Eddie."

"Thank you again Kelly, for scheduling things around the trial, I just want to be there for Eddie and Max. They have waited two years for the person responsible for Katy's death to be brought to justice. These past two months have been hard on them."

"Hey babe, you finished with Kelly?" Eddie asked coming out of Jake's office looking upset and tense.

"Yes we're finished," Loren stood up and wrapped her arms around Eddie's waist, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello Loren, it's nice to see you. Congratulations on your cd release, I love the songs." Jeremy says coming out of Jake's office.

Loren turns towards Jake's office and sees Jeremy and Lia standing in the door way. "Hi Jeremy, it's nice to see you too. And thanks, I'm happy you like my cd." Loren looks at Lia and nods. _I know Lia doesn't like me, and she knows I don't like her. She just better keep her hands off Eddie._ Loren thought to herself before she planted a fake smile on her face "Hello Lia," Loren says trying to be cordial.

"Eddie I can't wait to get started on that song for your cd," Lia says ignoring Loren.

Loren looks up at Eddie with questioning eyes. Eddie says, "I'll tell you about it later." He grabs Loren's hand and they leave Jake's office.

Eddie waits until they are in the car headed home to explain things to Loren. "I have three more songs I need to write for my cd, Jake and the label execs think it would be good for me to collaborate with Jeremy and Lia on a song."

"How much more gratitude do you have to show them? You got Jake listen to their demo, he's agreed to help them get started in the music business. You paid off the mortgage on their farm. You've done countless interviews in which you thanked them for risking everything for you. When will it be enough?" Loren is angry.

"I don't know," Eddie replied dryly.

"Someone once told me that my manager works for me, I don't work for my manager. So why don't you just tell Jake, no." Loren stated.

"DON'T YOU THINK I SAID NO! I DON'T WANT TO WORK WITH LIA ANYMORE THAN YOU, BUT IT'S NOT JUST JAKE PUSHING ME TO DO IT, THE RECORD LABEL EXECS WANT IT TOO! SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" Eddie yelled at Loren.

Eddie immediately felt guilty for yelling at Loren. _She didn't deserve that. I'm mad at the world right now and I just yelled at the woman I love. _Eddie thought to himself._ I can see the tears rolling down Loren's cheeks. I know I've been shutting Loren out lately. I've been keeping all my emotions bottled up inside. We've been busy with our careers and have had little time to spend together but Loren found time to come visit me at the studio, or grab a quick bite to eat before she had to rush off somewhere. And when she couldn't meet up with me, she would text or call me. I didn't do that for her. I miss her so much. No matter how mad I am, yelling at Loren is uncalled for. I have to do something to make it up to her._ Eddie said to himself.

They pull up to the new house. Eddie turns off the car; he turns to Loren and says, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's not your fault. None of this is your fault," reaching over wiping a tear from her cheek. "I love you Loren Tate."

"I love you too Eddie Duran," Loren whispers.

They sit in silence Eddie looking at Loren, Loren looking out the window, after a few minutes Eddie breaks the silence, "Let's have a quiet evening at home tonight just the two of us. We've been so busy with our careers; we haven't had much time for us. I miss you Loren." He cups her face and turns her head so that she's looking at him. "I'll go pick up something to eat and you pick out some movies for us to watch. I want to cuddle with you in our pajamas and just relax."

Loren nods her head in agreement and reaches for the door handle.

"What would you like to eat?" Eddie asks.

"Can we have pasta from Rumor?"

He can see that she is still upset but trying to hide it, "we can have anything you want. I'll even pick up some ice cream for dessert." She gives him a sad smile. "Go get things ready and I'll get the food." Eddie leans over and kisses Loren.

Loren gets out of the car and watches Eddie drive out the gate. _I can't believe he yelled at me. I know this thing with Lia makes him uncomfortable and Chloe's trial is stressing him out, but to yell at me. I can't believe it. I've tried to be there for him, I had Kelly schedule my press junket around the trial. I've done everything a loving and supportive girlfriend should do and he yells at me. Yeah, I know he feels guilty for doing it, it shows on his face and in his eyes, but I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that he yelled at me. _

As Eddie is pulling out of the driveway his phone rings. He presses the speaker, "Hello?"

"Hey mate, how are you?"

"Ian?"

"Yes. Me Ian, you Eddie, we best friends since we five years old." Ian says in his best caveman voice.

"Hey man, how are you? Where are you?"

"I'm good. I just landed at LAX, come pick me up."

"I'm on my way."

_Where is he? He's been gone for five hours. It doesn't take this long to pick up food from Rumor. I've called his phone ten times and he hasn't answered. This is my last time calling his phone before I go looking for him. _ Loren picks up her phone and presses 1 on the quick dial and her phone calls Eddie.

Eddie answers on the third ring, Loren can hear music and women laughing in the background. "Hey babe, sorry, I forgot to call you, Ian called from the airport, I went to pick him up and we stopped at Ian's favorite spot for a quick drink. I kind of lost track of time, but we're leaving the bar now and will stop by Rumor to pick up your pasta."

Loren was crushed. "I'm not hungry anymore Eddie, it's late, I'm going to bed. Stay out as long as you'd like." Loren ends the call before he could say anything. She takes of the sheer blue teddy she put on five hours ago, puts on her pajamas and went to bed. Loren cries herself to sleep.

"You okay mate?" Ian asked Eddie

"I better get home; I was supposed to pick up dinner for me and Loren five hours ago." Eddie said. "Come on let's go, the kitchen is closed at Rumor, but I will stop by that place near my old penthouse. She loves the pastrami sandwiches from there."

"Sorry ladies, Eddie has to get home to his girlfriend before she changes the locks," Ian says to the women who have been all over them since they walked in the bar.

"Eddie if your girlfriend puts you out, you can spend the night with me," one of the women said to Eddie.

"Thanks for the offer, but Loren would never put me out," Eddie says. "It's truly been a pleasure ladies, but my friend and I have to leave. Enjoy the rest of your evening." Eddie grabs Ian by the arm and drags him out of the bar. As soon as Eddie gets out in the night air, he quickly realizes that he's had too much to drink and cannot get behind the wheel of his car.

"Shit Ian, I can't drive, I've had too much to drink. What am I going to do?" Eddie's is pacing back and forth in front of his car.

"I don't know man, but I'm going back in there to get that blond girl's number while you figure out how we're getting home." Ian starts to walk away but Eddie grabs him by the arm before he can get too far.

"What do you mean I have to figure out how we're getting home, it's your fault I lost track of time and have totally neglected my girlfriend. You just had to stop in for one quick drink. That was five hours ago Ian. I already messed things up with Loren earlier today, now I'm really in the dog house with her." Eddie shouts at Ian.

"Whoa, calm down mate. Look, Jake's office is just up the street, you know he works late, let's call him." Ian suggested.

"That's perfect Ian, you are good for something from time to time." Eddie pulls out his phone and calls Jake.

"Eddie! My man. Why are you calling me this late?" Jake asks.

"Jake are you in your office?" Eddie asks

"Yes. Why?"

"Look Jake I need a favor, Ian and I are at the bar down the street from your office, I've had too much to drink to drive home and I don't want to leave my car here in the parking lot. Can you come get us?" Eddie says.

"Where is Loren?" Jake asks

"Loren is at home pissed off at me." Eddie replies. "I will explain it to you when you get here."

"Okay, Kelly and I are on our way."

"Thanks man, I really appreciate this."

"Hey Eduardo, just how much trouble are you in with Loren?"

"Let's just say, I will probably be taking cold showers for the next few months behind this."

"We'll hurry." Jake says before ending the call.

Eddie makes one more phone call to order the pastrami sandwiches.

When Eddie and Ian get to the house all the lights are out. Eddie shows Ian to the guest room then slowly walks to their bedroom carrying the box with the pastrami sandwiches. He carefully opens the door and sees that Loren is already in the bed with her back to the door. At first he thought she might still be up but he heard her lightly snoring. Eddie takes the food to the kitchen puts it in the refrigerator and goes back upstairs to their room. The only light in the room is coming from the moon; he walks over to Loren's side of the bed and looks at her. Eddie could tell by the puffy eyes, red nose and tear stains on her cheeks that Loren had cried herself to sleep. _Damn, twice in one day, I've caused Loren to cry. Why do I keep hurting her like this? Tonight wasn't Ian's fault; I can't blame him for this. There is a bar at Rumor; we could have had that quick drink there while we waited for the pasta. I know it's late but I can't leave things like this between us._

Eddie kisses each one of Loren's puffy eyes, then her red nose, then her cheeks and finally her lips. "I'm sorry Loren. I love you so much." Eddie says to a sleeping Loren.

"I love you too Eddie," Loren replied in her sleep with a smile on her face.

Loren wake up to the smell of breakfast cooking downstairs. She opens her eyes to see a tray of her favorite breakfast sitting on the night stand next to the bed. There is a rose and a note next to the plate. She picks up the note.

_My Dearest Loren. _

_I am so sorry for the way I treated you yesterday, you are the most important person in my life. I know I can't make up for everything, but I'm hoping that you will give me a chance to explain myself tonight over dinner at our spot. _

_All my love_

_Eddie_.

Loren smiles and starts eating the chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon.

"Hey beautiful. Just checking to see if you got my note. We have to be in court in a couple of hours." Eddie says from the doorway.

Loren put her tray to the side and gets out of bed, walks over and puts her arms around Eddie pulling him to her and giving him a kiss. "I would love to have dinner with you at our spot and thank you for the breakfast."

Eddie smiles and grabs Loren by the waist pulling her to him while he kisses her. "I'm looking forward to it."

News cameras and paparazzi are camped in front of the courthouse. Max, Eddie, Nora, and Loren are in the back of the Escalade waiting for security to clear a path for them to the courthouse doors.

Once they get the all clear from security, Max exits first reaches in to help Nora out, followed by Eddie who reaches in to help Loren out. Flashes are going off all around them while reporters throw questions at them.

Inside of the courthouse is better than it was outside. They are led to the courtroom where the prosecutor greets Max and Eddie, while Nora and Loren find seats a few rows behind the prosecution team. Tyler walks in and is also greeted by the prosecutor, followed by Max, then Eddie.

Loren looks around the courtroom wondering who all these people are. She saw Jackie, Chloe's mother, sitting behind the defense team. She looks frightened. Loren instantly feels sorry for Jackie.

Eddie and Max came and sat with Nora and Loren, court is about to begin. Chloe is brought in in handcuffs. Jail has changed her. She doesn't look so confident any more. When she makes it to her defense attorney, the bailiff removes her handcuffs and Chloe sits down in the seat next to her attorney. She doesn't make eye contact with anyone.

Next the jury is led in and they take their seat in the jury box. Court is called to order as the judge takes his seat. "Before we begin, let me remind everyone to turn off all cell phones and recording devices. Anyone who disrupts my courtroom with these devices will be held in contempt of court and will pay a hefty fine." A few people turn off their cell phones. "Bailiff, please read the charges against Miss Carter."

"Chloe Carter, you are charged with one count of Negligent Homicide, one count of Vehicular Homicide, one count of Felony Hit and Run and leaving the scene of a crime, one counts of Reckless Driving, and two counts of Reckless Endangerment. All of which you have pled not guilty." While the bailiff read the charges against Chloe, Eddie holds onto Loren's hand for comfort.

After giving instructions the judge tells the prosecutor to begin with his opening statement.

In the prosecutor's opening statement, he talks about all the evidence they have against Chloe and the witnesses who will be called to testify against her. It takes the prosecutor all morning to make his opening statement. The judge calls lunch recess. Before Eddie and Max could exit the courtroom, reporters held tape recorders in their faces asking how they thought the opening statement went. Security quickly moves the reporters back, Max grabs Nora's hand, and Eddie grabs Loren's hand then turns to Tyler. "Hey man, do you want to have lunch with us?"

"Sure, I would love to." Tyler says.

They exit the courthouse, get in the Escalade and go to lunch. At lunch Max, Nora and Tyler make idle conversation. No one seems to notice how quiet Eddie is, no one but Loren. She places a reassuring hand over his and he gives her a sad smile.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Loren asks.

Eddie shakes his head no.

When they get back from lunch, the crowd of reporters and paparazzi doubled in size. Nora is trampled by a paparazzo causing her hand to slip from Max's. Eddie and Tyler push the guy off Nora while Max and Loren help her up. They make their way back into the courtroom.

Once everyone is seated, the judge reminds everyone to turn off their cell phones and recording devices. The defense attorney starts his opening statement. In his opening statement, the defense attorney says the evidence against Chloe is circumstantial and poorly gathered. He also says the prosecution's key witnesses have personal vendettas against Chloe and should not even be allowed to testify. His last statement is that charges were only brought against Chloe because of her very public breakup with Eddie Duran and her pressing charges against him for her accident at MK.

Loren senses Eddie anger. His knee bobbing up and down and he is breathing heavily. Loren went to place a calming hand on his knee. He immediately moves his knee before her hand can make contact and gives her a look that makes her catch her breath.

The defense attorney finishes his opening statement, the judge calls recess until nine o'clock tomorrow morning.

Everyone is quiet in the Escalade on their way home. When Eddie and Loren walk into their house, Ian is on the couch watching television and eating one of the pastrami sandwiches. Loren goes straight to their room without speaking.

"What happened in court?" Ian asks as his eyes followed Loren.

"I will tell you about it later," Eddie says, he follows her up to their bedroom and finds her laying across their bed looking up at the ceiling.

Eddie closes the door and locks it then walks over to the bed. He grabs Loren by the ankles and pulls her towards him, taking off her shoes. Then he unbuttons Loren's pants and slid them off. Eddie trails kisses up her right leg using his hands to open her legs more and more until he kisses land right in between her legs. Loren gasps as she feels Eddie's lips between her legs. She starts to move back away from his lips, but Eddie quickly wraps his arms around her hips and legs pulling her back to his mouth. Using his tongue, Eddie teases Loren through her panties. Loren is instantly turned on. She closes her eyes and enjoys the feel of Eddie's tongue teasing her through her panties. With arms still wrapped around Loren's legs preventing her from moving away from his mouth, he uses his hands to pull her panties down. He pulls back long enough to pull her panties all the way off. He starts a trail of kisses up her left leg until once again his kisses land right between her legs. At the feel of Eddie's lips and tongue on her now exposed womanhood, Loren gasps and arch her back. She is so turned on by all of this. This is her first experience with oral sex.

Eddie's pattern of licking and sucking her bud is pushing Loren over the edge. The pace of Eddie's tongue start to increase as Loren's hip movements increased. Loren grabs Eddie's head, trying to push him away as she reach her climax. Loren is moaning louder, Eddie is sure Ian can hear her but he is too busy making sure that she fully enjoys this experience to care. When Eddie is sure that Loren is finish, he continues his kissing journey up her body; he pushes up her blouse, arch her back and unhooks her bra with one hand. With her breast free, he starts licking and sucking her right nipple. Loren pulls her shirt over her head and takes off her bra. Eddie moves to the other nipple. Loren feels herself on the verge of another orgasm and wants Eddie inside of her.

"Please Eddie," is all Loren says Eddie knows exactly what she wants but he's not ready to give it to her; Loren climaxes for a second time. By the time Eddie reaches Loren's neck, she is frantically pulling at his clothes trying to undress him. He chuckles when she rips his shirt open causing buttons to scatter around the room. He moves the kiss from her neck to her lips. Loren immediately opens her mouth to allow his tongue in. She tastes herself on his tongue. She wants him inside of her now. Without breaking the kiss, Loren reaches between them and unbuckles his belt, unbutton his pants, and unzip the zipper. He helps her by kicking off his shoes. Using her feet, Loren pulls his pants and boxers down and he kicks them off, all without breaking their kiss. Loren reaches between them and wraps her hands around his very erect member; she runs her thumbs over the tip before guiding him into her.

Loren wraps her legs around Eddie's back as Eddie starts a marathon of thrusts inside her. Eddie feels Loren's muscle contract against him, he knows she did this on purpose; she wants him to climax with her.

Loren knows that contracting her muscle pushes Eddie over the edge. Eddie gets on his knees and starts thrusting harder and faster inside calling out Loren's name. He continues thrusting until they both shake from their release. Eddie remains inside of Loren until their breathing and heart rate returns to normal. He slowly pulls out of Loren flipping their position so that she is on top of him. "I love you."

"I love you too Eddie."

"I'm sorry for what happened in court today I know you were only trying to calm me down. I just hate that Chloe's attorney made it seem like she is the victim in all this."

"Look love, I can't let you just barge into Eddie and Loren's room they are taking a nap and I was told to make sure no one disturbs them until three o'clock which is fifteen minutes away." Ian says loudly so Loren and Eddie can hear the exchange between him and Kelly.

"Loren has a cd signing gig in two hours that she has to get ready for. Get out of my way now!" Kelly shouts at Ian.

"Go take a shower babe, I will stall Kelly." Eddie tells Loren.

Loren kisses Eddie then runs towards the bathroom. Eddie pulls on a pair of sweats and a muscle tee before unlocking the bedroom door and walking to the stairs.

"Hey Kel, Loren is in the shower and will be out in a minute."

"Thanks Eddie, now can you call off your guard dog before I take the curling iron and use it to give him a prostate exam. I need to come up so we can set up for hair and makeup."

"How about you guys set up in the music room down there and I will pull Loren out of the shower." Kelly huffs, but leads the team to the music room. Eddie chuckles, "stay boy. Good guard dog" he says and winks at Ian.

"Yeah, this guard dog has very good hearing." Ian laughs as Eddie blushes.

Eddie walks back into the room and into the bathroom strips down and joins Loren in the shower. "You better get down there before Kelly gives Ian a prostate exam with a curling iron." Eddie says.

Loren nods and gets out the shower wrapping her body in a towel. "Eddie," Loren says as she's about to leave out the bathroom, "are we still having dinner at our spot tonight."

"Of course we are beautiful."

Loren gives Eddie a kiss before running out.

Eddie and Ian were sitting on the couch playing video games and drinking beer.

"Hey man, thanks for running interference earlier" Eddie says trying to distract Ian from the game.

"Anytime. What happened in court today?" Ian asks trying to distract Eddie from the game.

"It was pretty tame I guess. They only got through the opening statements today."

"How did Chloe look?"

"I couldn't bring myself to look at her man. I still cannot believe that I was engaged to that monster."

"If things were tame, why was Loren upset when you guys got home?"

Eddie took a deep breath before answering, "I was getting pretty heated by some things Chloe's attorney was saying, Loren tried to calm me down and I kind of took my anger out on her."

"You've got to get that under control man before you lose her."

"Yeah, I know"

Just then there is a knock on the door, Eddie pause the game to open the door. There stood Jake, Jeremy and Lia.

"Eduardo, how are you man?" Jake asks walking into the house followed by Jeremy and Lia, "What happened in court?"

"Jake, what are you guys doing here?" Eddie asks trying not to be rude.

"We came to pow-wow on this song collaboration." Jake said.

"Tonight isn't a good night Jake; I'm taking Loren out to dinner after her cd signing at City Walk." Eddie replies.

"So the little girlfriend isn't here?" Lia says with a smirk.

"Cool it Lia," Jeremy says.

"Look Eddie, Loren finished her cd and is out there promoting it; you need to do the same. I'm sure she'll understand you canceling dinner plans tonight. There are other nights you can take her to dinner. I'm sure if the tables were turned, she would cancel on you to finish her cd." Jake says in his no nonsense business voice.

"Jake, can I talk to you in private for a minute?" Eddie asks. He doesn't wait for Jake's response, he walks toward the kitchen.

"What's up Eddie?"

"Look Jake, I don't want to work with Lia."

"Does that include Jeremy too?"

"No Jeremy is cool."

"Eddie, they are a packaged deal, you can't work with one without the other. Look man, it's just one song. After all they've done for you, one song isn't asking for much. Besides, I know for a fact that Loren would collaborate with someone she doesn't like for the advancement of her career."

"Why do you keep doing that?" Eddie asks. "Why do you keep bringing Loren into this?"

"Look man, I'm just trying to point out that Loren will do whatever it takes to push her career farther and so should you." Jake replies.

"Fine Jake, but this is it, no more songs with Lia, no more interviews about Lia and Jeremy, nothing. This is it. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes, we have an understanding, no more Lia and Jeremy after the song is recorded. Now let's get to work."

They walk back into the living room as Jake says, "let's get to work."

Eddie feels like he just lost his freedom.

When Loren gets back from her cd signing at City Walk, Eddie, Jeremy and Lia are in the music room with their heads together, Ian is snapping photos of them and Jake is in the living room on his iPad. He looks up and smiles when she walks through the door.

"Jake what's going on?" Loren asks pointing to the music room.

"They're working on the song for Eddie's cd." Jake replies.

"Eddie agreed to do it, tonight?" Loren asks. She doesn't wait for Jake's answer; she goes into the music room.

Of course Lia is sitting close to Eddie on the piano bench. Eddie looks up when he hears Loren's voice. He immediately put some space between him and Lia when he sees the look on Loren's face. "So Eddie, I guess we're not going to have dinner at our spot tonight." Loren says trying to hide the disappointment from her voice.

"I'm so sorry babe, Jake, Lia and Jeremy came over and we started talking business and decided to get started on this collaboration."

Sensing the tension between Eddie and Loren, Ian suggested ordering take out since none of them has had dinner yet.

"That sounds great," Jake says standing in the doorway, "I will even go pick it up."

"How was City Walk?" Eddie asks Loren who is just standing there staring at him; not speaking.

"You're unbelievable," Loren whispers the walks out the music room.

Eddie starts to get angry; he stands up from the piano and is about to leave out the room to follow Loren upstairs. "Hey Eddie, what do you guys want to eat?" Ian asks him.

"Just order us whatever," Eddie calls out to him.

Eddie reaches their bedroom he walks in and slams the door shut. Loren jumps at the sound of the door slamming. "What was that all about?" Eddie asks her. "You're upset because we aren't going to dinner tonight? Are you really being that selfish?"

"How am I being selfish Eddie?"

"Your cd is finished, you're out there promoting your cd and you're upset because I choose to work on my cd over going to dinner with you tonight? That's how you're being selfish. I'm sure if the shoe was on the other foot you would make the same choice I made tonight."

"I'm not Chloe!"

"No but you're acting like Chloe!" Eddie immediately regretted saying that.

The hurt was evident in her eyes.

"I'M UPSET BECAUSE YOU'VE ALLOWED THAT GIRL TO BE IN OUR HOME EDDIE. YOU KNOW I DON'T LIKE HER AND SHE DOESN'T LIKE ME. I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT TYPE OF PERSON IN MY OWN HOME." Loren yells at Eddie.

"WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO LOREN? JAKE BROUGHT HER HERE, I DIDN'T INVITE HER. I JUST WANT TO GET THIS COLLABORATION OVER WITH SO I WON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH HER ANY MORE AND IF THAT MEANS I HAVE TO DO IT IN MY HOUSE THAT I BOUGHT THEN I WILL." Eddie yells back at Loren.

Loren walks to her closet, grabs some clothes and goes in the bathroom slamming the door.

Eddie goes back downstairs and rejoins the others. By the look on everyone's face, Eddie knows they heard the whole exchange between him and Loren. He didn't miss the big smile on Lia's face.

Ian walks over to his friend; he can tell by his friend's body language that Eddie is regretting what he said to Loren. "Hey, is there anything I can do to help?"

Eddie shook his head and heads back to the piano feeling defeated. Eddie hears the front door open and slam shut. Then the sound of Loren's car starting and pulling out of the driveway. Lia hands Eddie another beer then starts giving ideas for the lyrics to the song they are working on.

For the next few weeks, Loren and Eddie tip toe around each other not really speaking. Each day after court, Loren leaves for a cd signing gig and returns late the same evening or early the next morning. Even after they finished the song collaboration and have recorded it, Lia still finds an excuse to be their house. Ian accepted a gig in China and will be gone for a week. One night Loren walks into the house and finds Lia cooking dinner in the kitchen and Eddie is nowhere to be found. Loren couldn't take it anymore and moved out.

Eddie finished recording his cd and is working with the engineers putting on the finishing touches. He is unhappy about the way things went down between him and Loren. He finally stopped Lia from coming over when he came home one night and found her cooking in the kitchen like she lived there. It was the same night Loren moved out. He knows he only had himself to blame for the current state of his relationship with Loren.

The prosecution team presented all the evidence and questioned all their witnesses except for one, Max. Tyler's testimony was the most damaging to the defense team's strategy. Max is the last one to be called to testify. On the witness stand, Max is asked to recall the accident in detail. Then the prosecutor plays the 911 recording.

_**Operator:**__ "911, what's your emergency?_

_**Max:**__ This is Max Duran, my wife and I were just involved in a car accident._

_**Operator:**__ Where did this accident happen Mr. Duran_

_**Max:**__ we were traveling on Topanga Canyon when a blue sports car veered into our lane and clipped the front end of my car causing me to spin out of control and hit a tree, my legs are pinned and my wife is badly hurt. _

_**Operator:**__ Mister Duran, I am trying to track your phone so I can send emergency services. Is the driver of the other car still there? _

_**Max:**__ No, I don't see another car. _

_**Operator:**__ Did you get a look at the driver of the other car? _

_**Max:**__ Yes it was a woman with blond hair driving. _

_**Operator:**__ What is the condition of your wife? _

_**Max:**__ She's barely breathing; hold on honey help is on its way. _

_**Katy:**__ Max. I love you Max, tell Eddie I love him too. Remind him every day of how much I love him and will always be with him. _

_**Max:**__ Katy you're gonna be okay, help is on its way, just hold on baby. _

_**Katy:**__ Max, you have been the best husband, father, friend, and lover I could ever ask for. Promise me you will not waste your life grieving for me. _

_**Max:**__ I will do no such thing; you're going to be okay. _

_**Katy:**__ Promise me Max please._

_**Max:**__ (Max can be heard sobbing) I promise Katy,_

_**Katy:**__ and tell Eddie to remember our talk about finding love in this crazy business, tell him when he finds her to not let her slip through his fingers._

_**Max:**__ I'll tell him. Oh No! She stopped breathing! KATY!"_ _(Max shouted before the recording stopped)._

Nora and Loren are in tears, Max is crying on the witness stand, and Eddie collapses in Loren's lap sobbing. She and Nora wrap their arms around him.

The judge calls the court in recess until nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Max walks off the witness stand and into Nora's arms. Eddie is still sobbing with his head in Loren's lap, she's whispering in his ear, trying to calm him down. Chloe stands up and for the first time since the trail began, turns and looks at Max and Eddie. She whispers something to her attorney before the bailiff takes her back through the door in handcuffs. Security immediate surrounds Max, Eddie, Nora and Loren before reporters can bombard them with questions.

Once the courtroom is cleared out, Max, Nora, Eddie and Loren are led out a different door where the Escalade was waiting. The ride back to the Hollywood Hills house was quiet. Eddie still has tears falling down his cheeks and is holding onto Loren's hand for strength and comfort. Nora's arms are around Max, who has not said a word. Inside the house, Eddie immediately goes up to his room; Loren makes a quick phone call to Kelly before she following him upstairs.

When she gets to the room she hears the shower running and him sobbing. Her heart is breaking for him, without another thought, Loren enters the bathroom strips off her clothes and joins Eddie in the shower. Standing behind Eddie, Loren washes him up and rinses him off, then wraps her arms around his waist and kisses his back. He turns around and wraps his arms around her; they stay like this until the water gets cold. Loren turns the knobs and turning off the water. She takes Eddie by the hand and leads him out of the shower. She dries him off, then dries herself, and then leads him to the bed. Pulling back the covers and climbing into bed, Loren pulls Eddie into bed with her and wraps her arms around him. Eddie cries himself to sleep in the comfort of Loren's arms.

Eddie wakes up around eight o'clock in the evening. Loren still has her arms him. He shifts their position so that Loren is now wrapped in his arms. "Loren, I'm so sorry for everything. The last thing I wanted to do is hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable in your own home." Eddie whispers.

"I know," Loren whispered back.

"Didn't you have a cd signing thing tonight?" He asked.

"I called Kelly and told her to cancel it."

"You did that for me?"

"You needed me Eddie. I would walk out on a concert in the middle of a song for you." Loren said. "None of this matters to me if you're not with me."

"Why did you move out of our home?"

"Eddie do you realize this is the most we've said to each other in the past few weeks?" Loren asked. "I couldn't continue to live like that and the final straw was when I walked in on Lia cooking in the kitchen like she owned the place. I had to leave."

"This is all my fault. I've been acting like such an ass. You are nothing like Chloe and I was wrong for saying that to you." Eddie said, "even though you had cd signing commitments, you never missed a day in that courtroom with me. You always found time for me, but lately, I haven't given you any of my time. I allowed a stranger to make you feel uncomfortable in our home. And for that, I am truly sorry."

"Eddie, I never expected you to drop everything for me. I know how important your music is to you. You have done so much for me already. I just wanted to have a few quiet moments with you. After all those years of dealing with Adrianna I should have learned how to handle Lia, I just never in a million years thought that I would have to deal with someone like her in my home."

"Hearing my mom's voice on that 911 recording made me bring things into prospective. I wasn't just crying because I was hearing my mom's voice, I was also crying because I've let her down. I've let you down. I miss you Loren. I love you. I'm going to fix things starting right now."

Eddie gets out of bed and pulls on his sweatpants and muscle tee and tosses Loren a skirt, underwear and a t-shirt she left behind. "Get dressed; we have some things to fix. Meet me downstairs in ten minutes."

Loren quickly gets dressed and meets Eddie downstairs. He's ending a call when she gets to him. "Where are we going?" Loren asks as they walk out the door. They get into Eddie's car and are pulling out the driveway before Eddie answers.

"We have three stops to make. First stop is to the studio, I have a song I want to record to replace that song with Lia and Jeremy. Second stop is to Rumor to pick up some pasta for our movie night."

"And the third stop?" Loren asked.

"We're picking up your things from Melissa's apartment, you're moving back home tonight."

"How did you know I had moved in with Melissa, I didn't even tell my mom and Max that I moved out of the house."

"I texted Melissa the night I came home and saw that you had moved out. I got a very long and threating reply from Melissa."

Three hours later they are pulling up in their driveway. Eddie reaches over to give Loren a kiss after turning off the car. He meant the kiss to be quick but once their lips touched, passion took over and Eddie's tongue pries open Loren's lips dancing with Loren's tongue.

Loren moans and wraps her arms around his neck pulling him closer. Eddie's hand leaves Loren's face and travels downward until it rests on her thigh. His hand goes under her skirt and parts her thighs and under the waist band of her panties. His fingers begin to massage her bud. "I need you," Eddie says breathlessly, as Loren moans in his mouth.

Loren's hands leaves Eddie's neck and travels downward until they are at the waistband of his sweats, they slip under the waist band of his boxers. She wraps her hand around Eddie's erect member and massages the tip with her thumbs. "I need you too," Loren says breathlessly. With Eddie's help, Loren pulls his sweatpants down. Eddie pulls up her skirt as she climbs over the gear sift onto Eddie's lap. Eddie leans his seat back as far as it can go grabbing onto her hips. Loren straddles Eddie as he guided her onto him.

Once he's inside of Loren, Eddie says, "welcome home,"

Loren says, "I'm glad to be home."

They stare into each other's eyes as they begin to thrust and grind against one another.

Loren and Eddie are cuddling in bed feeding each other the pasta from Rumor and talking.

"I'm happy all my firsts are with you Eddie."

"I have some firsts I want to experience with you."

"I'm game if you're game." Loren says giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

"Loren have to I tell you something and please don't be mad at me?" He didn't wait for a reply, "the last few times we made love, I forgot to use a condom" Eddie said.

"Eddie, don't worry, I've been on the pill for two months now."

"Can I tell you something else?" Eddie asks. "That was my first time in the front seat of a car," Eddie blushes.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious."

"Tell me more about these first experiences you want to have with me." Loren says.

When they walk into court the next morning, the prosecutor calls Max and Eddie over, Chloe's attorney is there too. Nora and Loren take their usual seats and wait for the guys to return. The prosecutor, Max, Eddie and Chloe's attorney shake hands. Then Max and Eddie walk over to Jackie, Chloe's mom and hug her. The make their way over to Nora and Loren.

"What was that all about?" Nora asked Max.

"After hearing that 911 recording, Chloe asked her attorney to speak with the prosecutor. She's going to change her plea to guilty and the prosecutor agreed to ask for the minimum jail time. He wanted to make sure we knew about it before they presented it to the judge in chambers."

Loren turns to Eddie, "you're okay with it?"

"All I've ever wanted was closure. And I have it; I just want to move forward from here with the woman I am deeply in love with." Eddie takes Loren's hand and kisses the back of it.

"Why did you go over to Jackie," Nora asks Max

"It wasn't just the recording that changed Chloe's mind; Jackie helped convince her as well when she was how Eddie broke down in the courtroom yesterday." Max said.

Court is called to order. The defense attorney requests to approach the bench. The prosecutor and defense attorney speak to the judge; he calls the court to recess while the attorneys met in the judge's chambers. They return after an hour. The judge calls court to order, he dismisses the jury thanking them for their services. He then sentences Chloe to a minimum of ten years in prison with the possibility of parole in five years. Court is then adjourned, Chloe's defense attorney hands Loren a note before they leave the courtroom.

"Chloe asked her attorney to give this to me," She tells everyone once they are in the back of the Escalade.

"Read it out loud," Max says.

She looks at Eddie and he nodded letting her know that it's okay.

Loren began

_Loren,_

_I know you don't believe me, but in my own way I do love Eddie. I now see that the love he had for me wasn't real because he didn't know with real me. Please take care of him, make him happy, and tell him you love him every day. Don't let Hollywood change you, because he truly deserves to be loved by someone who loves him for him and not what he can do for them. You are that someone. _

_Chloe._

"I can't believe that came from Chloe," Nora said.

Loren looks at Eddie; he has been quiet since she finished reading the note. "Eddie, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I've got closure." Eddie says and kisses Loren passionately in front of Max and Nora.

That evening, they all met up at MK to celebrate. Eddie calls Tyler and invites him to the club as well. Ian is back from his photography gig in China and is at the club hitting on Melissa.

"Hey Pop, the club looks great, when did you do all this?" Eddie asks.

"I can't take all the credit for this son; Nora is responsible for all the changes in the club."

"Wow mom, you did all this?" Loren asks.

"I had to put my business marketing skills to good use." Nora says.

Just then an old MK song comes on and everyone heads to the dance floor. Eddie is dancing with Kelly, Max is dancing with Nora, Melissa is dancing with Ian, Tyler is dancing with his date, Jake is dancing with Loren, and Jeremy is dancing with Grace.

"Hey Loren, I want to apologize for forcing Lia on Eddie that night. I didn't know that she was being a total witch to you." Jake says to Loren. "I dropped her as a client, but kept Jeremy, he's the real talent in that duo anyway."

"No hard feelings Jake," Loren says as she gives Jake a kiss on the cheek. "I'm just happy to have Lia out of our lives for now."

"Hey man," Eddie says leading Kelly over to Jake and Loren, "are you hitting on my woman?"

"Never that. She only has eyes for you." Jake replies. "By the way Eddie, that remake of Prince's _"Adore"_ is going to be huge. When I played it for the record label execs they liked it better than that song with Lia and Jeremy. That was a good call on your part."

"Thanks man, I appreciate that," Eddie and Jake share a brotherly hug. "Now can I have my woman back?"

"Sure," Jake says giving Loren's hand to Eddie. Jake and Kelly are now dancing together.

Eddie can't keep his hands off Loren. She is wearing a fitted halter dress that comes to her mid thighs. Eddie wraps his arms around Loren from behind and whispers in her ear, "I've never made love in a dressing room, have you?"

Loren blushes and allows Eddie to lead her to the back of the club.

Ian notices Eddie leading Loren to the back of the club towards one of the dressing rooms. He laughs when Eddie makes eye contact with him giving him a wink. Ian positions himself so that he can play guard dog.

Thanks for reading, please review. ~ jm


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